There is so much wrong with this album cover, I just don't know where to begin. First of all, it doesn't look like a very happy birthday for our girl Julie. She's in a dive bar -- not faux-dive, but real dive -- and, not surprisingly, she's none too happy. And, second, if Julie's only just now turning sixteen, then what in God's name is she doing with this middle-aged Daniel Stern lookalike? (The only way this pairing makes sense is if this is a screen shot from Home Alone 4: Sixteen Candles.) And third, if Daniel Stern is breaking up with her, how come he's the one who gets the beer and cigarette? She's getting dumped by a middle-aged loser. Jesus. Help soften the blow, buddy.
So many questions, so little time. I guess that means it's time to move on to the Friday Random Ten.
You know the routine by now. Open up your iTunes or imitationTunes, set it on random, and give us the first ten songs that pop up. If you're feeling up to it, throw in a Coolness Self-Audit. (Last week, Special Guest Star Pete Smith offered a suitable ranking scale. Use it -- if you dare.)
Alright, here's my ten:
1. Loretta Lynn, "Out of My Head and Back in My Bed" -- Not really as feminist or feisty as some of her other stuff, but a rollickin' enough tune. 6/10
2. James Brown, "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose (Remix)" -- This is, without a doubt, the best song that JB ever recorded. No, better than the one you're thinking of. And much better than the other one. This is off the In the Jungle Groove LP, and it's a scorching version. There's a point about four minutes in where he stops the rest of the band and lets drummer Clyde Stubblefield and bassist Bootsy Collins loose for an amazing minute of pure, undiluted funk. If there were ever a perfect ten, this song is it. 10/10
3. Phil Flowers and the Flower Shop, "Like a Rolling Stone" -- This is an uptempo soul version of the Dylan classic. Lots of horns, lots of screaming, lots of backup vocals, and somehow it works. 7/10
4. Gang Starr, "Take Two and Pass" -- In the spirit of Chris Tucker's rant from Friday -- "Puff, puff, give! Puff, puff, give! You're fuckin' up the rotation!" -- this is a classic Gang Starr tune dedicated to the fine art of cannabis circulation. Guru's a little subdued on this one, but maybe he was just practicing what he was preaching. 8/10
5. Snoop Doggy Dogg, "St. Ides in the LBC" -- Yet another one of the St. Ides classic ads. Not as great as some of the Ice Cube ones, but still pretty cool for the rarity. If you're the kind of degenerate who likes these sort of things, they're all available at this site. 6/10
6. Danger Doom, "Mince Meat" -- The long-awaited combination of two of hiphop's rising stars, Danger Mouse and MF Doom, this CD was going to have a hard time living up to expectations. And it is, in fact, a bit of a letdown. 6/10
7. The Gories, "There But for the Grace of God Go I" -- The Gories were a short-lived garage-rock trio from the early '90s. This is a great example of their sound -- raw, driving, and surprisingly catchy. Hard to believe that this was originally a soul/disco hit from 1979, since it sounds so perfect in the garage-grunge mold. I guess if you distort the guitars enough, it all sounds garagish. Yes, that's a real word. Look it up. 9/10
8. The Circle Jerks, "When the Shit Hits the Fan" -- A selection from the Repo Man soundtrack. Certainly not the best song on the soundtrack, and certainly not the best Circle Jerks tune. The best part, in fact, is the title. Eh. 5/10
9. Yo La Tengo, "You Can Have It All" -- A great tune from the kings (and queen) of Hoboken's indie rock scene, taken off the excellent CD And Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. It would be a cop out to simply refer to their music as dreamy, but then again, I'm a lazy, lazy man. 8/10
10. Willie Bobo, "Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries (Dan the Automator Remix)" -- A nice selection from one of the excellent Verve Remixed discs. Here, Dan the Automator (the producer best known as half of Handsome Boy Modeling School) puts a very subtle spin on a classic Latin jazz number. Great stuff. 9/10
That gives me a 7.4 average, once again placing me firmly in the C-range of coolness. Which I suppose is where the cool kids would want to be. When they're not smoking Kools beneath the bleachers, of course.
Alright, you know the drill. Drop your own random ten in the comments below, with or without the Coolness Self-Audit.
Bring it on!
23 comments:
Man, Otto, I don't know where you find these album covers, but they're getting more degenerate by the week.
Let's all pause to give some props to the Virginia Tech Hokies, who crushed the Maryland Terrables last night. Championship bound, babeee!!
Can't say I have a great feeling about this week's top ten, so you'll have to be strong.
1. Sunshine - Alice in Chains. Great start! I think this is one of Inanny's favorite AIC tunes, so you know it's good. 8/10
2. Flowerman - Yes. This is one of their session songs from the 60s. It is truly, truly awful. 1/10. Man, that hurt.
3. Rock of Ages - Leppard. We're back to rockin'!!! Is there any better Fryday song? We've got the power, we've got the glory, baby! 7/10
4. Shine on you crazy diamond, parts 1-4 - Floyd. Hey, this list ain't so bad! I've just recently started listening to Floyd, and I'm really liking the Wish You Were Here album. 8/10.
5. Aenima - Tool. Wow do I love this song. They did this song as an encore at their '01 concert, and it was poop crazy awesome. The only downer was that Maynard was wearing nothing but a Sumo wrestler-style thong. He wore it the whole concert, and it kept sliding down a little bit each song. I think he was trying to make me gay. 10/10
6. When the Apple Blossoms Bloom in the Windmill of your Mind, I'll be Your Valentine - ELP. Long-ass song name for a short song. Good instrumental, but not exactly a rockin' tune. 6/10
7. Half - Soundgarden. I hate this piece of crap. 1/10
8. Guinevere - Rick Wakeman. Legendary keyboardist from Yes, Rick released a couple solo albums in the mid-70s. One of them was his interpretation of the King Arthur tales. Great album (if you're cool enough to get it), but this song ain't too hot. 4/10.
9. Wooden Jesus - Temple of the Dog. Okay, this one kind of makes up for awful number 7. Probably my favorite Temple song. 8/10
10. Blackened - Metallica. What a way to finish! Definitely a great Friday song. These guys really rocked before they started jamming with orchestras and going after napster. Now I fart in their general direction. 10/10
Okay, that worked out better than I thought it would. You really lucked out.
Glad you like the album covers, Thrillhous. I'm saving some good ones, and let me say that the Christmas season will be extra special this year.
Shakin' things up. Went to the library last week and took out a good 20-30 CDs and uploaded 'em all. Also made some progress out of my collection at home. The result? A whole new playlist on the iPod. There'll be some overlap with the old list here and there, but no matter how hard that little guy tries, there'll be no live Journey or Chris Isaak...
1. "Red Dragon Tattoo" - Fountains of Wayne Not the first choice I'd make from these guys, but, welcome to my earphones... 7
2. "Whole Lotta love" - Led Zeppelin Zep II was one of the first CDs I ever bought. It was playing on the speakers at Crazy Eddie's when I was there with my roommate back in 1987 or so(?). I didn't even have a CD player yet and I bought it. This is what Zeppelin is all about. 10
3. "Cecilia" - Simon & Garfunkel Despite the fact that my mom used to listen to this, it's still cool. 8
4. "Take a Picture" - Filter A good enough song for a sellout single on a sophomore effort, but it's not real Filter. I can remember telling my girlfriend at the time, "You're not gonna like the rest of that CD." 6
5. "Super Bad" - James Brown Nuff said. 9
6. "Blue Light'" - David Gilmour Wow, I forgot all about this album. Forever settling the debate of Gilmour vs. Waters for me. Tremendous. 8
7. "Freedom" - Rage "Yeah...right..." God, Audioslave sucks compared to this. 8
8. "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" - Eels Great song. Thankfully, this is the version off a CMJ disc. I inadvertantly bought a censored version of the album, and this song (and others) are completely fucking destroyed. "[blank]damn it's a beautiful day..." they didn't even beep or dub something else in, they just muted the first half of the word. And that's the goddamn chorus. Grrr. Pisses me off to this day. 8
9. "The Camera Eye" - Rush Wow, It's easily been fifteen years since I've heard this song. I feel like I'm wearing my tape walkman on my paper route. 8
10. "3 Is A Magic Number" - Blind Melon I don't have a lot of use for Blind Melon, but this is a great tune. Yep, it's the schooolhouse rock song, and this is a great, funky version. 9
8.1 average?!? It would seem so. Guess that makes me pretty damn cool... Somehow I doubt IMS Amanda would concur.
T'hous,
I'd go with "My Savior" as the top tune from TOG. Matt Cameron's finest hour.
Man, those were some ugly-ass graphics on that album cover...play-doh letters? WTF?
Oh, and there needs to be a limit on these damn Word verifications...eight is too long.
My Savior is a great tune, indeed. They must've outsourced the album designing to the local preschool. Probably got a pretty good price, too.
I hear you on the word verification. We just want to stop spammers, not people who type crappily (lik mee).
Oh, that's just me bitching. I have it turned on over at my place too. Ususally its just five nice block letters, easy to read, and it's no problem (like this one right now). Five gets the job done.
But other times, its some psychadelic 70 degree skewed serif font that 7-8 letters long and I'm like, "is that a fucking "j" – what the hell...?"
Today started off kind of rough. Like when my cat vomited just as I was FINALLY drifting off to sleep last night at like 1:00. Then again at like 5:00 this morning. Then my train was massively late. And I think the first track on my FRT is highly appropriate since I forgot to tell the 'Pod to play randomly and didn't notice until the third song in that all the songs started with the letters "s-t-a-r" At least I am having a good hair day...
Also, not to be weird or anything Otto, but I love you a little more each week for those cool lists of yours. (Don't worry, Malibu Stacy!!! I'm just being friendly :)
1: Scatterbrain-Radiohead 8/10
It took me about six months to get into this album, but I rather love it now.
2: Easy Love-Badly Drawn Boy 4/10 I HATE this album. Except the song about the Year of the Rat. Good thing I just stole it off my bro's iPod and didn't actually pay for it.
3: Too Gone-The Connells 9/10
It wouldn't be an FRT if our resident mascots didn't make an appearance, non?
4: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, II Movement-played by Vladimir Horowitz 6/10
I like Rachmaninoff for his excitement, but this movement is particularly slow and quiet. :(
5: Around the World-Red Hot Chili Peppers 8/10
I didn't really get the message on them until this album. But I was kind of a goodytwoshoes when they first came on the scene, so songs about drugs and pictures of them with tube socks on their hoo-hahs were totally scandalizing to me.
6: You Learn-Alanis Morisette 4/10
Blech.
7: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away-Eddie Veder 8/10
This is from the "I Am Sam" soundtrack, which is a really charming array of Beatles covers. I think this song is really sweet.
8:Fu-Gee-La (Refugee Camp Remix)-The Fugees 8/10
Better than the original because you can understand the verbiage.
9: Float On-Modest Mouse 10/10
I can listen to this song forever. It just makes me so happy :)
10: Tough Mary-Etta James 9/10
Oh Etta, how diverse you are, my lovely chanteuse....
Ok, so kind of a weird mix of things this week. My brain is too fried to even average it out. You kids have a good weekend; I'm gonna go sleep it off. And possibly murder my cat for waking me up with the puking...
Malibu Satcy - "You can NEVER go wrong with Stevie Wonder" - Must I remind you of the 80's?
Furious, if you like Zep's "Whole Lotta Love," be sure to check out the blue original, Muddy Water's "You Need Love." It's amazing to think he was doing those same guitar riffs (blues style) back in the early 1960s, when rock was still dumbstruck by "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."
I'm not with my tunes right now, so no FRT for me, but I gotta chime in on the Temple of the Dog love. Man, is that a great album. Chris Cornell is so good if you can get some other person with a huge ego to keep him in check.
Thrillhous, if you are just now getting into Pink Floyd (maybe re-discovering them? Surely nobody goes through puberty without discovering their comforting tales of alienation and loneliness). My favorite Floyd album has to be Animals. It's the album they released immediately after Wish You Were Here and immediately before The Wall. The best thing about it (other than the consistent quality of the songs) is that you never hear any of the tunes on the radio. Though unlike Mr. F I come down on the Waters side of the divide. The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking is another diamond in the rough (though that's the only Waters solo album I could call "great"). Eric Clapton on guitar and David Sanborn on sax. How can you go wrong?
ORF, my rule is that if I vomit twice in the morning, I call in sick to work. Unless the vomiting was alcohol-related, in which case I say party on, dude.
The cat vomited, I-Rod. I'm pretty sure it had the day off, anyway.
I actually did manage to make it through puberty without listening to floyd. in my teen years I thought they were just about drugs, which Iwasn't about. What a waste.
Thanks for the info, guys. I'll have to steal that Animals album.
Good God, I-Rod, the last time I vomited from alcohol was my sophmore year in college. I only had to learn that lesson a time or two to get it. Also, my stomach happens to be lined with adamantium.
My cat seems to be trying this bulimia thing on for size tho. It comes in spurts. He must know that I potentially signed him up to be a model kitty yesterday for a photo shoot, so he's fallen off the barf wagon again. And yeah, he pretty much has every day off. And he mocks me with his sleepy eyes every time I come home. The bastard!!
I'm siding with Furious in the Pink Floyd custody fight. Gilmour's the better half.
And let me speak up for the lovely and charming Malibu Stacy -- the 80s Wonder era was a tragedy we'll never speak of again.
And finally, there is something we can all agree on -- the word verification gets out of hand. It's necessary, but they could steer clear of writing words like "ijlijlljij" in italics and expecting me to figure it out. Making me doubt my own humanity, the bastiges...
Otto -- with a list like that you might be saving ORF from my advances, but just bringing all my love and subsequent love juices right at you! I gots to go find that willie bobo remix -- and thrillh, nice shout out for the fightin' goblers - malibu stacy, thanks for bringing up how hot Liz Phair is, I'm looking forward to the new album but after the few tracks I heard don't see her getting any redemption points for "returning to form"...
on to the FRT:
1)argument - the prom -- I really like these guys, and some may say piano pop is weak, I say suck it a-holes....nice bouncy track to kick off the FRT AND an unreleased album from the Barsuk roster.7/10
2)True - propagandi -- yeah, you read it right - a heavy metal concrete blonde cover by these tweaked out humor infused politically motivated rockers. too much novelty, not enough rockin' and dammit don't do that to concrete blonde (and yes, I have a long standing crush on Johnette)6/10
3)khaki suit - damien marley - damn I have been loving damien's new Welcome to Jamrock, a great mix of conscious, ragga and a touch o dancehall and R&B .. catch a fire indeed.8/10
4)every fucking city - paul kelly -- one of my all time favorite songwriters who is just consistently AWESOME - and this song about traveling the world in his chosen profession and some of the inevitable downfalls is a true classic infused with his superb wit and aussie sensibility.9/10
5)living the dream - chris mills -- oh, blessed with a songwriters twofer - chris mills is true americana, and while he grabbed my attention with his initial twang, his songwriting chops and pop sheen keep me coming back for more - for those of you who don't know mills do yourself a favor and check him out -- another bonus is his resistance of the corporate music industry by releasing his albums on his own label, peerless pop - and it truly is.8/10
6)brass in pocket - kelis - so yeah, kelis should funk up this pretenders classic, and while it is a great song (obviously) kelis hands in a pretty standard rendition and never really makes the track her own, too bad because as good as it is it just doesn't sparkle like it should. 6/10
7)doctor wu - minutemen -- whoa - it must be freaky friday cover day ... this is a cool song (natch - it is the freaking minutemen covering steely dan) and while a bit mellow I still give it high marks, plus it is from the amazing double nickels on the dime recorded in a mere two days.9/10
8)a salty dog - procol harum -- so what can you say about one of the best bands of all time and a classic ,breathtaking tale that illuminates prog rock to be.10/10
9)no clocks - pylon -- this one owes a debt of gratitude to ORF, after our little connells discourse the other day I was forced to upload a whole batch of 80s jangle pop/college rock and I have been loving my connells, guadalcanal diary, pylon, dbs, feelies, REM and the reivers - and this little ditty does not dissapoint! 8/10
10)i feel alright - steve earle -- now let the weekend begin, the modern american troubadour puts everything in place and sets the stage for a grand weekend.9/10
on a final note I fall on the gilmour side of the argument, but Pros and Cons is a TRULY amazing album, without question something to check out and a personal desert island disc, or maybe Wyoming.....15/10
I have Liz Phair's latest CD (except for the iTunes single, whatever the crap that's all about, part of the crap being "sellout"), and it's OK, definitely better than her Avril-like previous album.
I don't think there's much hope for her music now. She's almost 40!
Here is my FRT. I was bummed I missed it last week...wrote down my list first thing Friday AM, but never got the chance to post! Anyway...
1. "Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmom!" - Sufjan Stevens. I really like this guy. I'm anxious to get ahold of the Michigan album. (He does have kind of long, rambly song titles though, hehe.) 9/10.
2. "Listen Up" - De Novo Dahl. Bought this album on a whim after reading a good review and haven't managed to really get into it yet. I don't think it's bad though, and I like this song. 7/10.
3. "If You Don't Cry" - Magnetic Fields. One of their 69 love songs. 7/10.
4. "Dirty Little Girl" - Elton John. Eh. Just an OK Elton song in my book. 6/10.
5. "Wonderful Remark" - Van Morrison. Certainly not my favorite Van song, but he gets points just for being Van. 8/10.
6. "Don't Look Away" - The Who. Definitely a good Who song. 8/10.
7. "Go It Alone" - Beck. I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, except that I like Beck and dig the new album. 7/10.
8. "Like Foxes Through Fences" - American Analog Set. A pleasant little tune for a Friday morning. (Even though it took me 'til the evening to post it.) 7/10.
9. "Wilderness" - Sleater-Kinney. Awesome. Love S-K, love their new album. One of my favorite bands, and I just saw them live for the first time a couple of weeks ago. They. Were. So. Good. One of the best shows I've ever been to. 10/10.
10. "Grounded" - Pavement. Pavement always gets cool points. 8/10.
Not a bad showing this week. 7.7 average...an improvement from last time. I've been quite pleased with the Pod's selections today!
Ugh, and ditto with the word verification annoyance. I swear sometimes I type it in correctly and Blogger makes me do a second one just to be spiteful.
Much obliged on the comments back on my site, Otto Man. It's a simple dream, but the dream most agreeable to my wife and kid. My other dreams, which include "world's longest fart," "most days without sleep," and "sex with 3 Playmates" were nixed pretty quickly. All I had left was Certified Beer Judge.
Nice list, Susie. Magnetic Fields, SK and Pavement? Gold!
And Smitty, there's no way you can ever take the "world's longest fart" title. Studiodave has that one wrapped up for good. Or bad, I suppose.
Better late than never, I always say. Or is it...
1. Phil Collins - Against All Odds. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been diagnosed with a rare psychological condition that manifests as a strange attachment to the songs of Phil Collins. I realize it's unhealthy, but I've learned to control it with therapy and medication. 2/10.
2. Beck - Girl. Funky little dance song, looks like we might be escaping from the black hole. 7/10.
3. The Puffins - Bad Boys From Leningrad. Art-rock-esque music with bland lyrics, saved only by a cool chorus. 5/10.
4. Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights. Oh man, am I not in the mood for this song today. "Let's take a cool Postal Service song and slow it down 50%!" NEXT! 5/10.
5. James Brown - Sex Machine. Uh! That's more like it! 1-2-3-4! 10/10.
6. The Mars Volta - Cicatriz . The Mars Volta are a good band. This song does not necessarily reflect that. 6/10.
7. The Jackson Five - ABC. What can I say about something that is the musical equivalent of awesome? 9/10.
8. The Shins - Saint Simon. It's a nice little song that sounds like it could have been released in the folk-rock revolution of the 60s. 7/10.
9. Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care. Only this band could make shipping instructions sound so cool. 9/10.
10. Stars - One More Night. I didn't fall in love with Stars because of their ballads, but this one's got some great lyrics. 7/10.
Man, am I glad to be done THAT. Grand total: 67/100. I think I need to lie down for a minute or two...
Alex, I LOVE PROPAGANDI!!!!! I don't actually know a whole lot of their music and haven't listened to what I DO know since high school, but I have always thot they were awesome. Mad points, my friend! and, I've actually heard of a couple other peeps on your list this week too, esp. my girl Kelis.
suzie, I am with you on Sufjan Stefens. I'm totally enamored of that C'mon Feel the Illinoise album. Did you know he intends to write an album about EVERY SINGLe STATE??!!
"Capitol Records recording artist" Liz Phair sang the 7th-inning stretch song in the Series' first game. During some particularly painful straining, I said to my mom, "She shouldn't be there, because she's more of a songwriter than a singer."
My mom turned to me with a quizzical look: "She's not a professional singer, is she?!"
Post a Comment